Station-indicating device.



G. S GHENGK & D. I. 000KB.

STATION INDIGATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3, 1911.

Patented 'uly 9, 1912.

5 SHEETSSHEET 1.

(3. SUHENGK (in 1).1. 000KB. STATIOH INDIGATING DEVICE.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 3, 1911.

1 3% Patented; zT1113 9, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

O. SGHENGK & D. I. 000KB.

STATION INDIGATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3, 1911.

Patented July 9, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I" QZQl:

G. SCHENCK 655 D. I. 000KB.

STATION INDIOAT ING DEVICE.

} H APPLICATION FILED AUG. 3, 1911. 1 @Q Fatented July 9, 191.2.

6 SHEETSSHEET 4.

CHARLES SCHENCK AND DWIGHT I. COOKE,

FORSYTH BROS. COMPANY, OF GHiCAGO, ILLINOIS, A

an as or cnIcAco, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS 'ro CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

STATIOdI-INDIGATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. j Patented July 9, 1912.

Application filed August 3, 1911. Serial No. 842,114.

. the stopping point which the conveyance is approaching.

The objects of the present invention are, to construct a mechanism which will be compact in form, cheap and sim le of construction and operation, and whic ix ject the characters in a manner so that they will be clearly legible under various light conditions, and in which a relatively small character-bearing ribbon can-, jbe utilized; and to so arrange the'mechan'ism for projecting the characters that, when projected, the characters Will be of a size to be clearly legible from any pointin the conveyance.

A further object of the invention '15 to construct a cheap and simple mechanism for advancing the character-bearing surface in a step by step manner, and to so arrange this'mechanism that it can be automatically or manually operated; and to provide a simple and effective means'for reversing the direction of movement .of the characterbearing surface, which-reversal can be effected without any shifting or re-arrangement of the mechanism.

showing the projecting surface;

Further objects will appear from a detailed description of the invention, which consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

A preferred construction is illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view, showing the front of a passenger car, with the indicating mechanism of the present inventionin operative position thereon; Fig. 2, a transverse section through the car body, Fig. 3, a perspective of the indicating mechanism, showing the housing partially roken away; Fig. 4, a front view 5, a plan view; Fig. anism for advancing 6, a detail of the mechwill pro-- of the mechanism; Fig.

the character-bearing,

surface, said mechanism bein in normal or non-operative position; Fig. a view similar to Fig. 6, s

owing the mechanism in operatlve position; Fig. 8, a vertical sectlon,

showing the light and lens for projecting the characters; Fig. 9, a detail, showing a modified structure for operating the mechanism to advance the character-bearing surface; and Fig. 10, a detail showing a second modified structure for advanclng the character-bearing surface.

As illustrated in the drawings, the device is shown embodied and used 1n connection with an ordinary street car, but it is, .of course, understood that this is merely for illustrative purposes to show one method of applying the device, and that the invention is intended to be applied to any public conveyance where such a device would be of any essential benefit.

The device comprises a casing 11 which, as shown in the drawings, is positioned upon the roof 12 of the car body 13. Attached to the forward end of the casing is a framework 14, which carries a projecting surface 15 which may be of ground glass or other suitable substance; and the projecting surface, as shown more clearly in Fig.

2, is positioned at one end of the carbody and elevated to sufiicient height to be clearly discernible to the passenger.

Carried by the casing 11 is a "forward partition 16 and a rear partition 17 The forward partition 16 serves as a mounting for the framework l tcarrying the project- Iing surface, and also serves as a mounting for a projecting lens 18. The rear partition '17 serves as a mounting for a condensing lens 19, and said rear partition is also provided with aslot or opening 20 of a size to accommodate a set of characters upon the character-bearing surface.

Positioned to the rear of the condensing lens 19 is a luminous center 21, which, in the form shown, consists of the ordinary incandescentlight, which may be operatively connected to the lighting circuit of the conveyance or to. an independent battery. In-

termediate thepartitions 16 and 17 is positioned. an upper feed roll.22 and a lower feed roll 23, which rolls receive and serve as a mountingfor a character-bearing sur' face 24, preferably of transparent, flexible ngaterial, having suitable characters 25 posit oned thereon. The characters may be of tively small space.

a small design, and the character-bearing surfaces, necessary to accommodate all of the characters essential inordinary use, will be of a size to be accommodated in a rela- This is an important point indevices of this nature, as heretofore, in all prior constructions of which we are aware, it has been necessary, in order to have a character which would be large.

enough to-be legible to the passengers in the car, and, in order to provide enough of these surfaces to accommodate the necessary characters, to form the character-bearing surface of an elongated strip which requires a large space to. operate in and hence is difficult of installation, or else 'to provide a character-bearing surface which is of a large, bulky nature and hence requires a complicated and expensive mechanism 'to able arrangement of lenses, it is possible to secure a projection, from a series of characters of small design, which will be large and easily legible from a distance. By using the condensing lens 19, We are enabledto concentrate the full force of the light from the lamp upon the opening20, so that the full efficiency of the light is obtained during the operation, and through the use of the projecting lens 18 the light is refracted, after passing through the opening' 20, so that the characters, when thrown upon the projecting surface, will be large enough to be clearly legible; and by concentrating the full force of the light upon the character-bearing surface a sufficient degree of light is obtained, so that the light surrounding the characters upon the projecting surface will be strong enough to render the characters legible during the daylight or under the influence of the strong artifi- I cial light employed in public conveyances at night. Hence, the characters will be clearly legible under all conditions of varying light which are met with in traveling conveyances. This is also deemed an essential and important point in the present invention. I v

The use of the transparent flexible strip in combination 'with opaque letters mounted on the same is important, because this arrangement allows of preparing different sets of strips lettered according to the different runs or car schedules. In the event of a'jcar being taken from one run and placed on another, the only change of theapparatus required is a replacement of the.

character-bearmg surface. By the use of this character b'earing surface, it is possible to'indicate within a compact space, a great number of stations or stops on a comparatively short strip of material. In ordinary practice, best results have been obtained inthe use of a strip two inches wide, with operate the same. In the present construc-' tion, through the use of a light and a suitletters three-sixteenths of an inch'high, and with names spaced one-fourth of an inch centers. This allows of a compactarrangement of mechanisms for operating the flexible strip in either direction. It is obvious that any suitable flexible character-bearing surface may be employed, provided the same is transparent or translucent, and the characters mounted thereon are opaque.

on account of reducing the volume of the light projected through-the film.

In projecting a sharply defined image on a screen, so as to be visible in the car interior, it must be borne in mind that where the character consists .of a group of opaque letters three-sixteenths of an inch high, it is essential to employ such combination of lenses as will magnify the characters so that the resultant image on the screen will be of such size that it may be easily read from all parts of the car. Moreover, in order that the image on the screen may be clearly discernible in daylight, or when the car is operated with artificial light, it is also essential that the intensity of the light projected through the lenses be greater than the light" at the point where the image is displayed. In other words, to produce the desired contrast of light and shadow necessary to show a clear and sharply defined image on the screen, the luminous center must be of relatively high intensity or candle-power; and this is also necessary to compensate for loss in intensity of light, which occurs when the character is projected through lenses having high magnifying power. In ordinary practice, it has been found that the best results are obtained by the use of a simple lens, having a magnifying power of eight or ten to one, with a focal length of approximately twelve inches to fourteen inches, and, in order to obtain the best results as regards the focus of the rays of light from the luminous center on the character-bearing strip, the

condenser is employed, consisting of a simple lens so designed as to condense the rays of light.

The roll 22'has secured thereto and may be operated by a shaft 26, and the roll '23 is mounted u on'and may be actuated by a vshaft 27. ach of the shafts 26 and 27 may be operated .by mechanism of similar construction, save that the operating .parts are so arranged and positioned with res ect to one another that a'r'eve rse direction 0 move I ment is imparted to the roll, 23 from that inn parte d' to the roll 22. This, however, will be dealt with more-in detail farther on in the specification; but, inasmuch as thetwo mechanisms may be'exactly similar in construction and operation, it is not deemed necessary at-this time to enter into a de-- tailed description of more than one of thev mechanisms, save to describe the changesin the positioning of the parts necessaryto effeet the reversal of movement of the rolls. In the form shown in Fig. 3, the mechanism is operated'through the influence vof a solenoid 28 of'any usual and well known construction, which is energized from any suitable source of electrical supply, as, for instance, through the connection with the controller box' shown in Fig. 1 and said solenoid. The energizing of the solenoid imparts movement to a stem 29 extending out therefrom, and said stemhas secured to its .20- outer end link members 30, and loosely mounted upon the shaft 27 are arms 32. Pivotally mounted upon a pin 32 passing through the arms 32 is a dog 33, the upper end of which is connected to the links 30;

and said dog operates upon a ratchet wheel 34, which wheel is fixedly secured to the shaft 27; and attached to the dog 33 at 'a tween the wall of a recess 'in'the end of the stem and a cap 36 in the end of the solenoid; and this spring further serves to exert a pres- 4a; sure on thedog 33, to forceit intoraised position. The principle of operation of the dog for actuating the ratchet is as follows: When th estem 2'9 ismoved forward through the energizin of'the solenoid 28, the arms 32 andthe links 30 will be moved in a corresponding direction. through the medium of the connection therebetween, and said movement will tend to swing the pivot of the dog inn-counterclockwise direction, parallel to seithe-periphery of the ratchet-wheel 34. The

links, 30 are pivotally connected to the stem 29 and to the dog 33. The dog33, however,

' is connected to thearms 32, and said-dog isloosely mounted upon the pin 32* which 5 passes through the arms- 32 5 hence, when movement is imparted to the stem 29 and the dog 33 is moved with the arms 32 which swingfrom the pivotal center of the shaft 27 ,"an'd since the ratchet wheel 34: is carried by said-*shaft, it follows that the swinging 'movement imparted to the pivot of'the dog 33' through the ac ation ofthe stem 29 will be one parallel o the periphery of the ratchet wheel 34. Whilerthearm '32- is being moved in this direction, the tension member 35 will be exerting a constant retarding movement thereon, and the acting end of the dog will be forced downward by the movements of the stem-29 and brought into acting engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 34. Hence, a downward and forward movement will be simultaneously imparted to the dog, which is the movement necessary in order to bring the dog into proper engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 34 to actuate the same. The solenoids are energized from an suitable source of electrical supply, as, or instance, through the connection with the controller box shown in Fig. 1, and saidsolenoids are connected in any suitable manner with a switch mechanism 37, which maybe pos tioned upon the vestibules of the car and actuated by the motorman or conductor, or in any other suitable Inanner, although it is understood, of course, that this mechanism can be operated by means of a fixed contact of any suitable nature, Without departing from the spirit of the invention. By employing a fixed contact, the operation of the feed rolls would become automatic in place of partially manual. As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, the mechanism for operating the feed roll 22 has its parts so arranged that, when actuated, a. reverse movement will be imparted to said roll from that imparted to the feed roll 23. A solenoid 38 is positioned below a ratchet wheel 39 in place of above the ratchet wheel, as is the case in the mechanism for actuating the feed roll 23, and hence a dog 40 will be operating upon the lower edge of said ratchet wheelin place of the upper I edge, as is the case with the dog 33. This, of course, will result inha reverse movement being imparted to the ratchet wheel 39 through the actuation of the dog 40 than that imparted to the ratchet wheel through the actuation of the dog 33. Hence, when the switch connection is thrown so as to energize the solenoid 38, the direction of movement of'the character-bearing surface -will be the reverse from that imparted to it when the switch is thrown to energize the solenoid 28, so that, when the end of the line is reached, the character-bearing surface can be operated ln'a reverse direction, and the point desired, he could 'move the surface vfcharacters thereon displayed in their-reverse order during the return trip, or, if throughv twice before the next'point was reached, and

hence have the-station displayed correspond at all times with the station which the conveyance is approaching. By this arrangement o f the dogs and ratchets, one dog is slipping, over the teeth of its ratchet wheel "while the other dogis in operative position upon the teeth of itsratchet; henceno re tar-ding movement 'is produced by" having 4;, asst erator pushes the button of the switch device marked Down. This will energize the solenoid2 8, drawing the stem 29 thereinto, and through the medium of. the link connection swing the dog 33 forward. At the same time that this forward movement is imparted to the dog, the spring 35 will exeft a pressure on said dog below its pivotal center, tending to throw the acting end of the dog downwardinto engagement with the teeth of the ratchet, and the movement. of

- the stem .29 will, accordingly, advance the dog 33 when it is in operat ve engagement with said teeth, and hence the shaft 27 will be rotated through the movements of the ratchet wheel 34, and the character bearing surface 24 moved a suflicient distance to remove one set of characters from in front of the opening 20 and position another 'set therein. When a reverse movement of the character-bearing surface is desired, the button of the switch member marked Up will be pushed by the operator, and the solenoid 38 energized to actuate the dog 40 to impart movement'to the feed roll 22, which.move ment will be the reverse of that imparted to the roll 23 through the actuation of the dog 33.

In Fig. 9 is shown a modified form of' structure for actuating the dog mechanism by means of a medium under pressure, as,

for instance, compressed air. In this instance, apiston 41 is used, to which thestem 29 is connected, and said piston travels within a cylinder 42, and the medium is controlled by means of suitable valve mechanism 43 to cause it to enter either cylinder of theset of cylinders desired to actuate the feed roll 22 orthe feed roll23, and so impart movement in the desired direction to the character-bearing surface. y

In Fig. 10 is shown a second modification, in which the operation of the mechanism for actuating the feed rolls is entirely manual.

In this structure, a cable 44 is utilized, which is attached at one end to the link mechanism carrying the dog, and to the other end is attached a suitable 45,. and a ithereof, as desired and toloe snuglyposicable passes over suitable guide pulleys 46. In the modification of Figs. '9 and 10, however, the same principle of construction is employed as that setforth in describing, device by means of the the operation of the solenoids.

T The extreme compactnessof the device is such that it may be builtvinto the upper portion of the car and at either or both ends transversely of the deck sash windows, which, obviously, is essential in practical car construction. Furthermore, itwill be noted that the operating conditions and requirements of this indicating device are radically different from that encountered in houses and theaters, since extreme compactness is essential and since the light conditions in such .places are of a nature to, admit of a ready discernibility of the projected characters without overcoming a conflicting light, which would ordinarily render the same indiscernible.

Without specifically limiting ourselves to the aforesaid constructions, we claim:

1. In a station indicating device, the

combination of a car, a flexible transparent character-bearing surface, opaque characters upon the surface, a projecting surface visible from the interior of the car, a luminous center, said luminous center being of greater of greater luminous power than the ordi-" nary light conditions of a car interior for dlsplayin the characters, and means for moving t e character bearing surface, sub- I stanti ally as described.

3. In an indicating deviceithe combination of a car, a character-bearing surface composed entirely of a flexible material, characters formed on said surface, the char.-

acter-bearing surface and characters being of different'degrees of transparency, a projecting-surfacevisible from the interior of the car, a luminous center, said luminous centerbeing of eater power than the ordinary light con itions of a car in-terior for displaying the characters, a series of lenses arranged operatively with respect to the i character-bearing surface andthe luminous.

center, whereby arelatively large reproduction of the characters is thrown upon the projecting surface, and means operatively connected for advancing thev character-bearing surface in a step by step movement, substantially as described. t 4. In an indicating device, the combination of a car, an elongated translucent and flexible character-bearing surface, V opaque characters upon said surface, a projecting. surface visible from the interior of the car;

a luminous center, said luminous center bemg of greater power than the ordinary light conditions of a car interior for displaying the characters, "a series of l nses arranged operativel witli-respee't' to the char aicter-bearingsur ace and the luminous center, whereby a relatively large reproduction,

of the characters is thrown upon the screen, and means operatively connected for advancing the character-bearing surface in astep by step movement, substantially as described.

acters and bearing surface being of different degrees of transparency, a projecting surface visible from the interior of the car, a luminous center, said luminous center being of greater power than the vordinary light conditions of a car interior for displaying the characters,'a condensing lens interposed between the luminous center and the character-bearing surface, an enlarging lens interposed between the character-bearing sursurface, whereby a relatively large repro uction of the characters is thrown upon the projecting surface, and means operatively connected for face and the projectin advancing the character-bearing surfaces in a step lav step movement, substantially as describe 1 6. in an indicating device, the combination of a flexible character-bearing surface having characters formed thereon, the characters and bearing surface being of difierent degrees of transparency, a projecting surface, a luminous center, said luminous cenvter being of greater power than the ordinary light conditions of a car interior for displaying the characters, condensing lenses interposed between the luminous center and the character-bearing surface, an enlarging lens interposed between the character-bearing surface and the, projecting surface, whereby a relatively large reproduction of the characters is thrown upon the projecting surface, companion feed rolls for the character-bearingsurface, means operatively connected for actuating the feed rolls, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of the feed rolls, substantially as described.

7. In an indicating device, the combination of a car, a casing, a character-bearing surface within the casing composed entirely of flexible material, and having characters formed thereon, the characters and bearing surface therefor being of difierent ole ees' of transparency, a luminous center within the casing, said luminous center being of greater power than'the ordinary light conditions of a car interior for displaying the characters, a partition wall between the character-bearing surface and the luminous center, said partition having an o ening therein of a size to accommodate the c aracters, condensing lenses interposed between the-luminous center and the partition-wall and in alinement with the opening therein,

a projecting surface visible from the interior of the car, an enlarging lens interposed between the projecting surface and the character-bearing surface, and means for.

actuating the character-bearing surface in a step by step movement, substantially as described.

8. In an indicating device, the combination of a character-bearing surface composed entirely of flexible material, characters formed on said surface, the characterbearing surface and the chjr acters being of different degrees of transpa ency, a projecting surface, a luminous center, said luminous center being of greater power than the ordinary light conditions of a car interior for. displaying the characters, a series of lenses arranged operatively with respect to the character bearing surface and the luminous center, whereby a relatively large reproduction oft-he characters is thrown upon the projecting surface, means operatively connected for advancing the character-bearing surface in a step by step movement, and means for reversing the direction of movement of the character-bearing surface, substantially as described.

9. In an indicating device, the combination of a casing, acharacter-bearing surface within the casing, composed entirely of flexible material and having characters formed thereon, the characters and bearing surface therefor being of diiferent degrees of transparency, a luminous center within the casing, said luminous center being of a greater power than the ordinary light conditions of the car interior for displaying the characters, a partition wall between the character-bearing surface and the luminous center, said artition having an opening therein of a size to accommodate the charac-r and means, for actuating the character-bearing surface in a step by step movement, substantially as described.

10. In an indicating device, tion of a casing, a character-bearing surface within the casing, composed-entirely of flexible material and having characters formed thereon, the characters and bearing surface therefor being of diflerent degrees of transparency, a luminous center, within the casing, said luminous center being of greater power than the ordinary light conditions of thecar interior for displaying the characters, a partit on wall between the character-bearing surface and the lunnnous center, said partition the combinahaving an opening therein of a size to accommodate the characters, condensing lenses interposed between the luminous center and the partltion wall and in alinement with the opening therein,

a projecting surface, an enlarging lens interposed between the projecting surface and the character-bearing surface, means for actuating the character-bearingsurface in a I step by step movement, and means for reversing the direction of movement of the -character-bearing surface, substantially as described.

1 stantially as described.

12. In combination with a carbody having a roof projecting above the roof of the car vestibule, an indicating device located 1 above the vestibule roof and adjacent the 9 thereof, a luminous center located on-the end of the car roof, said indicating device consisting of a flexible strip having at recurring intervals surfaces forming characters indicating stations, the character bearing surfaces and characters being of different degrees of transparency, aprojectin surface occupying an open space imme iately below the roof of the car body at the end reverse side of the projecting surface and substantially as immediately above the vestibule roof, the luminous center being such that the density of light emanating therefrom will be stronger than the normal light from the interior of the car whereby the light projecting through the strip onto the projecting surface will be of greater density than the light in the interior of the car body, and means for moving the strip, substantially as described.

13. In combination with a car body having a partition wall dividing the car body into a passenger portion and a vestibule portion, said wall having near the roof of the car an open space, a projectm surface occupying said open space and vislble from:

the interior of the assenger portion of the car, an indicating evice located at the top of the vestibule portion of the car and adj acent to and exterior of the projecting surface, said indicating device consisting of a flexible strip having at recurringintervals surfaces forming characters indicating stations, the character bearing surfaces and characters being of different degrees of transparency, and a, luminous center located adjacent to and on the reverse side, of the flexible strip, said luminous center being such that the density of light emanating therefrom will be stronger than the normal light from the interior of the car, whereby the light projecting through the strip onto the projecting surface will be of greater density than the light in the interior of the car body, and means for moving the strip, described.

CHARLES SCIIENCK, I DWIGHT I. COOKE. Witnesses: v

WALKER BAN'NING, EPHRAIM BANNING. 

